I finished up and flew the Merlin I won at the Christmas banquet this week.

This is my first brushless/lipo powered plane and I have to say I'm impressed with it. The included manual is very detailed and easy to follow.

The only complaint I have is the spinner.. They chose an odd 33mm size so there isn't much to choose from outside of the one that comes in the power pack and a few Chinese made folding props. Many people are just using s 30mm Graupner CAM folding prop.

Like the other Multiplex kits the build isn't to complicated..
The motor I used is slightly larger then the one in the power pack they sell but I made it fit :)

The Power pack sells for $110-1$50 and comes with a Himax 2212-1180 motor
Phoenix 18 Amp ESC, 33mm spinner/folding prop, 7x4 and 8x4 prop blades,
This is about a 50w power ssystem.. they recomend a 3S 500-600mah Lipo

I used a different combination recommended on the Merlin thread on RCgroups.com
The components I used are as follows..

Turnigy 2627-1200 Outrunner (130w)
30A ESC
APC 8x6E prop (non folding)
Turnigy 30C 3S 1000mah Lipo
4 x HXT900 9g servos
Hitech 05S Rx

My picks were not on the light side and my all up weight is 375g vs the stock 330g. No problem.. I've got a bit more than double the power of the Himax motor. :)

The Turnigy 2627 is a bit larger then stock.. It's 26mm OD vs 22mm on the Himax.
I had to open the nose up a bit so the motor wouldn't rub and make a slot for the motor wires to lay down in..

With the engine fit correctly the rest of the build as almost straight out of the manual with a few minor exceptions.. The book says to use 1st hole on the rudder and elevator arm and 2nd on Ailerons.. I would use 2nd for rudder/elevator and 3rd for Ailerons.. You can do the book recommended location but it took 140% EPA to get the throw right for elevator and Ailerons. Make the choice now.. It'll be hard to change later on.

The HXT900 servos are slightly larger then the HS-55 servos it's designed for.. It took some trimming to get the elevator and aileron servos to fit correctly..
You want to be sure the fuselage halves fit around the elevator servo and the arm isn't binding before gluing the 2 halves together.. After that point you have to cut a hole in the bottom to access the servo.

After the fuselage halves are together mount the motor to the nose piece and glue it to the place.. It is possible to pull the motor out through the battery hatch in necessary but it's a tight fit (26mm motor through a 25mm hole)

From there it's simply installing the aileron servos, rudder servo and decals.
Krylon fusion paint will stick to the elaapor if you want to do something different..

The manual recommends a CG 40mm back from the LE.. Rather conservative by most reports.. I'm flying mine at 50mm (right on the slots for the servo wires)
There is enough room in the battery bay to adjust the CG by moving the battery around a bit.

First flight was supposed to be Monday.
The weather was perfect, I got the plane assembled, balanced, and got the Tx setup.. The manual calls for 6mm UP/Down on Elevator, 6mm L/R for rudder and 12mm up 6mm down on Aileron..

Power up test was bad news.. I'd accidentally flipped the ESC over when I soldered the leads together and that reversed the motor.. No flight that day..

I fixed the engine rotation that night and was back on Tuesday for a Maiden flight..

The weather was OK.. 40° and 5-10 mph cross wind.
The first flights were with a 33mm 7.5x4.5 folding prop I got off Ebay.. Power was good but not stunning.. It'll hand launch at 3/4 to throttle..
It climbs out quick and only required a bit of down trim.. For a small 31" foamie it really handles the wind well..

It has a decent roll rate and will fly inverted without much effort.
Loops are OK but it likes to roll out a bit coming over the top..
The rudder had a ton of roll coupling so a Knife Edge is not easy but you might be able to mix it out on the Tx.

Power off gliding is great.. I doubt you'll go thermal hunting with my heavy setup but it'll be a great low-medium wind slope machine..

I went back on Wednesday to try a new prop..
This time an APC 8x6E.. I did one flight on the old prop.. With the 15-25mph winds it was a struggling a bit to make it up wind with less than 3/4 to full throttle..
When I switched to the APC 8x6 the difference was amazing.. With the APC you can do a no toss launch. Throttle up,let go and it's climbing out fast into the wind.. The strong wind bounced it around a bit but it handled it well..
It had enough thrust to keep a decent pace upwind and really move downwind.
Vertical performance is great.. Pitch the nose up and she keeps on trucking straight up till you give in.. (hey I can't see it!)

When you are done flying it breaks down and fits back in the box for safe transport.

Overall I'm very impressed.. It's got me thinking of larger electric projects for sure.

Pics to follow